Anacostia River Trail opening October 1st

The Prince George's County section of the Anacostia River Trail from Bladensburg Road to Route 50/DC Boundary will open October 1st with a 10am dedication ceremony and a couple of bike rides. RIght now it is kind of a trail to nowhere, but when DC builds the NE section of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail it will connect to this and should create a new route between the two jurisdictions.

You are encouraged to bring a bicycle and helmet to participate in either the 2-mile or 12-mile Cycle Maryland ride following the ceremony. Please let pgparks know of any special accommodations needed to attend the ceremony or participate in the ride.

The last I heard was this "DDOT has been working actively with the National Park Service since 2009 on design of the Kenilworth-Parkside Trail. Completion of design was delayed not by DDOT but pending the park service’s completion of a revised Environmental Assessment for the trail. In the meantime, the project has been further delayed pending the park service’s desire to also conjointly conduct an Environmental Assessment for a proposed connecting trail to the U.S. National Arboretum."

M-NCPPC staff told BTAG recently that NPS is eager to connect the trail from PG to Kenilworth aquatic gardens, but that DDOT does not return M-NCPPC calls.

I am not sure whether M-NCPPC's statements can be reconciled with the DDOT statemet--unless NPS is ready to go with the connection from the DC line to the Aquatic Gardens, but not the rest of the trail. My impression has been that DC was simply building the trail north one step at a tine, while PG views a connection from Bladensburg south to any road in the District as useful.

Reminds me a bit of the WB&A where the trail in PG has extended to that Pax River/AA County line for years.